What do you say we get straight to the weekend's activities? I see you nodding. But first, there's a new place to explore.

Finks celebrates with a grand opening starting at 4 p.m. Friday. I tell you this because I want people to ask me to go to Finks for drinks. And don't forget to wear green when the St. Patrick's Day Parade steps off on Saturday. | March 7, 2013»Read Full Article

A zinc bar is one of those iconic elements of French bistros; Lake Park Bistro will be getting its own next week.

The French-inflected Bartolotta restaurant, at 3133 E. Newberry Blvd., will be open for Sunday brunch but close afterward so the bar can be installed, the group announced this afternoon. Lake Park will remain closed through lunch March 15, and then reopen for dinner that night, with the 100% zinc bar in place. | March 7, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(1)

Is a film made in the image of one of the most popular films of all times sacrilegious or an answered prayer? Can the audience's fidelity to one particular thing be poached by something similar? | March 7, 2013»Read Full Article

It's during bleak weather weeks like these when it's best to just close your eyes and dream of summer, and the big event of the season, Summerfest. Already five headliners for the Marcus Amphitheater have been announced, and local band battles, where winners can get a slot at the Big Gig, are heating up.

The Battle for Catalano tournament has been going on since Jan. 13, with three bands competing nearly every Sunday at Club Charlie's, 320 E. Menomonee St. Last year's inaugural battle had 18 bands fighting for a gig at Ayre in the Square, the outdoor music event at Catalano Square, with spirited Celtic punk group Whiskey of the Damned walking away the winner. This year, there are 27 combatants. One act will win not only the Summerfest slot, but also a six-hour recording session with National Recording and a photo shoot with photographer Dawn Bloomfield. | March 7, 2013»Read Full Article

In "Emperor," Tommy Lee Jones plays Gen. Douglas MacArthur coordinating the reconstruction of Japan after the devastation caused by the atomic bomb at the end of World War II.

But the story is really about one of MacArthur's aides, played by Matthew Fox, of "Lost." By day, he is trying to determine whether Emperor Hirohito, considered a god by his people, should be tried for war crimes. But by night, he is haunted by memories of a Japanese girl he met and fell in love with before the war, and he embarks on a personal secret mission to find her. | March 7, 2013»Read Full Article

Singer-songwriter Emily Forst lives in New York, went to high school in Ireland and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She still has family here, and is returning to Milwaukee this month and performing songs from last year's album "Here We Go" at a couple of shows. | March 7, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

According to a story in Bloomberg Business Week, all three stars of the first three "Star Wars" films will be returning in the new film set for 2015.

The story quotes "Star Wars" creator George Lucas as saying Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher "have signed on the dotted line." And they may have been on board before Lucas sold his company and the "Star Wars" franchise to Disney for $4 billion. | March 7, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

"Queen" fans lost their champion singer Freddie Mercury long ago, but they can revisit his brilliance at the Potawatomi Casino-Northern Lights Theatre during Thursday's tribute show: "One Night of Queen."